


The Magnus Archives - Afternoon Shower

by Opalescence



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: my best friend helped me out w this one :) if u see this ava ily, ngl p proud, this is my first fan statement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23193892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Opalescence/pseuds/Opalescence
Summary: Statement of Michelle Thompson regarding her friendship with one Julia Martin and her very curious death. Original statement given April 23rd, 2011. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	The Magnus Archives - Afternoon Shower

**STATEMENT BEGINS.**

Let me get one thing straight. I hate water. And I mean that. When I shower, I get such strong uncomfortable sensations running down my back. I can’t even drink water. I hate it. I hate the feeling of it going down my throat now. Not like it stays put for long, seems my body just retches a little bit of it back up every now and then. I used to love swimming too.. But not anymore. Absolutely not. I don’t know what’s more ironic, all of this and the fact I’m from an island, or that this island is as bloody fucking hot as it can get. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m from Australia. Melbourne. 

This story.. Really isn’t particularly about me, I guess. I don’t know who’d be telling it if I were the victim, heh. It’s about my best friend, Julia. Someone who I’d been close with for as long as I can remember, yep. We’d always participate in class projects together, she was the first person I wanted to try scheduling a playdate with, and most importantly, she was there for me when I was struggling with the death of my uncle. 

See, my father left us when I was young, and my mom’s brother recently lost his home and he lived with us ever since. He was like a second father to me. A much better one too. He had some kind of heart condition which was costly to treat, I can’t blame him for why he couldn’t afford a home anymore.. I could write a completely separate statement about his crazy experiences as he’s had a lot, though I don’t think it’s worth your time reading. I mean I don’t know if you’re reading this.. I don’t even know if this is worth doing… You guys are quite literally my last resort as nobody took me seriously. I’m straying away from the topic now, though. But back to my friend Julia, we were close. So close. And her adorable, happy personality was something so rare and pungent. So pungent, that it always distracted me from one unsettling detail.. Get this, she hated water too.   
  


I suppose when you lose someone important to you, whether it be family or friend,a part of them carries on within you. It becomes a part of you, really. And I think that’s exactly what happened. This detestment of water became a burden to me, as she couldn’t carry it any longer. She said she had a fear of swimming. If there was a slight drizzle one day, she'd completely cover up as if there was a blizzard. Knowing snow isn’t common weather down here during ANY time of the year, I’m positive whatever she wore would not be adequate to keep her proper warm. I was always aware of this, it just never clicked to me about how strange it was, until many years later.

Fast forward, we’re both out of college. Well, she’s out of college, I’m still in my fourth year studying for my bachelor’s degree in Pathology, but we’re on break right now. Julia had gotten a job opening for a clothing company in London. She’s a fashion designer. I’m trying to remember what the company’s name exactly was. All I remember was it was in French. Or was it Italian? I can’t tell those languages apart sometimes. But that’s besides the point.

She packed her things, and left for London. I wouldn’t hear from her again until a week prior. That’s when things got.. Weird..

Once we started talking again, she had so much to say, as usual but there was always this recurring theme. She’d always gripe about the weather in London. Now before this, I never been to London, or anywhere in Europe. I’ve traveled to New Zealand though for a New Year’s family reunion, but that’s about it. Back to the griping, what she always complained about was how it rained.. She complained to me about how just the simple sound of droplets pattering on her windowsill drove her insane in her own flat. It kept her so on edge she’d call me just to hear my voice. She said it calms her to hear me.. Which made me very happy.

I decided to make the bold choice of coming to London for a few days just to visit her after I graduated. Believe it or not but, I really didn’t have my hands full after medical school. At least not after my first degree. So with my extra money and my spare time I made the choice to go ahead and visit my dear friend all the way in Europe.

  
  


Luckily I was able to rent a flat very close to hers. We were practically neighbors! Seeing her regularly was easy and enjoyable, we spent lots of time together. To be honest, this is kind of personal but.. She’s made me feel a way nobody else has ever made me feel. And I’m not a very romantic person. Something about her chestnut red hair and her pale olive eyes made me feel so light.. Like I was floating carelessly in the air. Yeah, that’s how I can describe it. It was a wonderful feeling. Especially as adults now, life was great. We had our own freedom to do what we want, and in a place like London, well you can’t exactly not do some exploring and shopping, especially as a tourist and emigrant. 

So yeah. That’s what we did for the first few days until it began to rain again. Julia would text me, in detail about how much she hated the rain, and the water.. She was too weary to come to my flat just because it was wet outside, even with all the heavy outdoor gear she owned. She just refused. It started to get worrying, honestly. I was already concerned but this began to get too ridiculous. I remember on one of the hotter days, we were both out on the street and I had some bottled water. That was it. Whenever I opened the cap, she’d step back away from me. Her eyes were just glued to the rim and they’d only move along if I lifted the bottle to my mouth to drink it. I lowered the bottle a little too quick and some of the water escaped and made a small splash. It splattered on the sidewalk, by Julia’s shoes too and she..

  
  


She hissed. At me. Yeah, she made this noise.. It was so unearthly and strange.. When I looked up at her, her face was all scrunched up in disgust, and I tried to ask her what happened but she smacked my face. I noticed she was intending to smack my hand away but what I think happened was that she saw it was wet, so she didn’t. We both went immediately home after that. And we didn't talk for the rest of the day.. 

The next day, it rained. I’m sure you can guess how it went down but, I assure you, you won’t expect what I’m about to tell you. It was raining, again as usual. I’m starting to notice damp weather is a common occurrence here. But, I didn’t get any text messages from her, no video calls, nothing. I just assumed she might have been sleeping in, I guess. But that didn’t make any sense now that I remember back. She doesn’t sleep in at all, actually. It was probably 2 in the afternoon, and she hasn’t texted me yet. I thought she might have still been mad at me, so maybe that’s why she hasn’t said anything but.. We’re best friends. Like BEST friends. She knows how to forgive.

Concerned, I zipped on my hoodie and picked up my umbrella to visit her flat. It was only a few doors down, so it’s not like I'm in for a trip with crappy weather. I knocked on her door, but there was no answer. I knocked again, but harder. On the third knock, I felt the door shift and that’s when I realized it had been unlocked this entire time. So I let myself in. 

There, I was immediately hit with a wave of awful aridness.. The entire room felt like I was stranded in the Sahara.. I don’t know what the hell she did to make the room feel like this, but I knew it was another result from her irrational fear. Amoung the pouring rain outside, I heard a steady dripping sound that stood out to me. As I walked around, trying to locate my friend, I heard a few more drips. It was then that I realized.. The flat was leaking. There were leaks on the ceiling from all the rainwater. That was enough information for me. I made it my priority to find her. And there she was, near the basement. Coiled up in a ball.

I approached her and touched her shoulder and her neck.. It went snap and cracked itself so she could look at me. There was so much fear in her face, so much it almost made me cry. I don’t think I could’ve if I wanted to. The fact I’m dealing with a delusional girl who has a fear of water would lose it and the fact that the air was so hot and dry, my tears would’ve evaporated. So there was no point. Another thing I want to point out was her face. Something was.. Wrong with it. Like, something seemed.. Distorted. That’s the best word I can think of. It just wasn’t right. But it wasn’t so noticeable that it was on my mind for long. So I ignored it, and proceeded to comfort Julia the best way I could. 

Conveniently, the rain let up after maybe an hour or so. Her mood improved and she was back to her smiling self. I left her flat and went back home so I could nap, and just forget about that ugly image of her distorted face. Which I may also add, cleared up after it rained.

Now, here comes the part I dread the most. This day will never, ever leave me. I don’t care how many years ago it happened, I don’t care that Julia isn’t even alive anymore. It haunts me. And it is why I cannot look at water the same way ever again.

It was another humid day in July. And it was my last day in London too. I thought, what better way to spend it than to visit the beach? Julia, of course was apprehensive because of the ocean but I reassured her that we both won’t be doing any swimming today. Just rubbing on some sun cream and absorbing the warmth of the rays. Before I continue, do you ever check the weather regularly? Do you ever look at what the forecast is for the rest of the week before every plan you make? I do that but, I made one crucial mistake. If I had just looked into the forecast for the entire day, none of this would’ve happened.

We got a taxi to take us all the way to the shore. You can picture it, can’t you? Children playing in the sand, surfers looking for waves, people soaking in the sun like lazy rocks. We were going to be a pair of lazy rocks today. We walked along the shore together just to find a place to lay down our blankets and relax. Oh and before I forget the detail, we were both wearing swimsuits. I’m not a very confident girl. I’m not big or anything. I just feel embarrassed wearing something so revealing and tight. Even though many others were wearing swimsuits, I always get the anxiety that someone may be staring at my bum or bust.. 

But I put that aside to make sure I would enjoy this day to the fullest. Julia applied sun cream on me first. It felt so nice feeling the coolness touch my back, I can even imagine steam letting up from it. And then I did the same for her, and we were good.

I laid for while and let the sounds of everything happening drift me to a light nap. I forgot what Julia had been doing while I was asleep but when I woke up I saw her standing, staring out into the horizon. It was vast, of course. As you can imagine. The clouds farthest away seemed a little dark.. Not because of the distance. They looked like storm clouds.

They weren’t that big though, and they weren’t that close, so I had nothing to worry about. Or so I thought. 

Julia said she was getting hungry. I gave her about 16 pounds to let her buy us some lunch. I was craving nacho cheese fries. Healthy, I know. So she left for the boardwalk. As I waited for her, those clouds began to loom closer. I could see them approaching the shore but again, I didn’t think anything of it. It probably wouldn’t even rain once it got to us, I thought. I was very wrong.

I felt a cold drop on my nose. That was the first one I felt. And then another on my arm. And then another. Soon enough it started to rain. And it was just a little bit at first, but it intensified, quickly. I was sheltered under my umbrella luckily but, it was just me. Julia wasn’t back yet. I started to get worried. After those two incidents with water and her, I began to worry what would happen to her if it began to rain out of nowhere, in public. But at the same time, I was also curious. It’s always been a mystery to me. Why she had such a strong fear of water, why she avoided it at all costs. And at that moment, was when I learned why.

I heard people running off to seek dry shelter, I heard some clamoring and such too. But then I heard someone.. No- Something. I don’t think a human could produce such a bone chilling shriek. Maybe, I don’t know. It gave me nightmares for weeks. I ran out the sand with my umbrella, blanket and basket and looked frantically for the source of the sound. It grew louder, and quite insufferable too. I noticed the people running past me were screaming too, as if they were running from the source of the screaming. But I ran towards it. As I did, I saw a figure in the distance running towards me directly. But it wasn’t really running. It looked like it had a limp. It was limping towards me. As I got closer and closer, I began to see the figure in better detail. It looked like.. Julia but. So, so wrong. Something was so wrong. The closer she got, the more I slowed myself as I didn’t know what I was running into, literally. As it approached me, I picked up a strong odor. Like a chemical. Or acid. Something you would smell in your high school laboratory.

And then, that’s when I knew this day would never be forgotten.

Even though it was pouring now, I dropped everything. I dropped my umbrella, I dropped my basket, my blanket. I think my stomach dropped the most, though. It finally caught up to me, but I didn’t run. I couldn’t run. I was too frozen up with fear to move any muscle of my body. It grabbed me by the shoulders. I felt a waxy substance come to contact with my skin. It was hot, and burning. I know I shouldn’t be referring to the dead as an “it” but this was not my friend. I refuse to believe this was my friend at this point. Nobody could convince me that grotesquery was my best friend Julia Martin. 

It’s skin began to sizzle and smoke as it screamed in my face. Her arms, once firm, became flabby and waxlike. Her face melted before my eyes. Her eye sockets began to lose its form and well, one of her eyes fell out onto my sandal. I screamed and kicked it away. Her cheeks began to sink down viscously. I swear a bit of her upper arm just came off and revealed the muscle and nerves, which too began to disintegrate in the rain. After two long minutes of endless screaming, her hair caught on fire and it burned at the scalp. It would spread all over her body until it ended at her legs. It did not pass to me.

Eventually, it stopped. And I was alone. In the rain, with bruises on my shoulders and foot. And an unrecognizable corpse.

I was not charged at all, as police did enough investigation to make it clear I was not the murderer. After doing all of that paperwork with them, I packed my bags, and went home. I did not return to London after that. I didn’t leave my apartment either for weeks after that until a neighbor saw me having a meltdown and I was hospitalized. I had to do therapy for a month. It’s helped me get over the trauma and death of my friend, but after all of that. My dictum remains the same. I hate water. And I will never look at it the same way.

**STATEMENT ENDS.**

**Jonathan Sims:** [ahem] Well. That was...interesting. Of course I have no doubt that Miss Thompson saw what she claimed to see, I do have my doubts that it was real. However, despite my own doubts, the facts are there. They just...do not make any clear sense. I had Sasha do some digging into Miss Julia Martin and she came up near empty handed. This was discouraging, to say the least. Sasha tells me that all that we have on record about someone by that name ends in the 90’s while this event, according to what she found, occured in 2005. There is a report of rain that day and a burned, unidentifiable corpse on the docks of Tankerton beach. There is nothing on who the corpse is and Miss Thompson immediately denied our request for a follow up. I do not blame her. I think I will be avoiding the beach for quite a while after this… [sigh]

**[Tape recorder clicks to a stop]**


End file.
